Otto wessell



(No Model.)

0. WESSELLI, A. NICKEL & R. GROSS.

PIANO AGTION.

Patented July 12, 188,7.

Wine-5529.5.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

oTTo wEssEnL, ADAM NICKEL, AND RUDOLPH eEoss, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

PIANO-ACTION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 366,360, dated July 12, 1887.

Application filed April 1, 1887. Serial No. 233,256. (No model.)

to a novel combination of springs with the repetition-lever and jack of such an action.

In actions of this character the proper relation between the repetition'lever and jack is commonly maintained by a regulating-screw in the repetition-lever bearing upon a restsupport; and another feature of our invention relates to a novel combination of regulatingscrew and abutment with the repetitionlever, jack, and rest-support.

Our invention consists in the combination, with a repetitionlever pivoted between its ends, and with the jack of a piano-action, of independently-adjustable springs applied to said lever and jack, and which may advantageously be connected by loops or stirrups with the said lever and jack, as hereinafter particularly described.

The invention also consists in a novel combination, with the repetition-lever, the jack, and the rest-support, of a regulating-screw insorted in the jack, and an abutment for the screw,'all as particularly hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanyings drawings, Figure 1 represents in sectional elevation a hammer,

key, and the corresponding portion of the action of a grand piano, illustrating both features of our invention. Fig. 2 is a plan of the repetition-lever shown in Fig. 1; and Figs. 3 and 4 are views, similar to Fig. 1, of as much of the action as is necessary to illuslrate'slight modifications ofour invention.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures.

A designates the hammer, secured. by a flange, b, in the usual way to the hammer- 5o rail B. i

B designates a hammer-rest, and B the rest support, which are supported by a flange, b, from the action-rail 13. The hammer-rail B and the action-rail B are supported by the ac tion-brackets B", in the usual way.

0 designates the repetition-lever, which is fulcrumed between its ends, at c, in the post O,rising from the rest-support B and through a sticker, 0, which is connected with a block, 0 upon the key-lever D, the motion of the keylever is transmitted to the rest-support B.

E designates thejack, which is pivoted at e in the rest-support B", and the upper end of which projects through a slot in .the repetition-lever O and bears against the knuckle b of the hammer A. Thejaek E has the usual let-off projection or arm 6', which by the rais ing of thejack is brought in contact with the let-off screw 6'.

In so far as described our action does not differ from those ordinarily employed in grand pianos; but the springs f f, which are respectively applied to the repetition-lever C and the jack E, do differ from the springs or dinarily employed. These springs are independently adj ustable-that is to say, either of them maybe bent to vary its force without in any way aifecting the force of the other spring. The inner ends of these springs are fixed by pins h in the post 0, and their outer or free ends are, as here represented, connected by loops or stirrups f with the repetition-lever O and the jack E. We have here'shown the repetition-lever as formed with a yoke or opening, 0 extending through it from top to bottom, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. l, and as shown clearly in Fig. 2, and through this yoke or opening 0 the lever-spring f ex tends and is curved and extends upward and forward to its point of connection with the lever C at the loop or stirrup f In the example of the invention just described, and shown in Fig. 1, the springsf f are supposed to be made separate from each other and are not connected in any way.

In the example of the invention shown in Fig. 3 the spring f is secured at h in the post 0, and has a sliding bearing at f upon the repetitionlever O. The spring f is fixed at h in the rest-support B", and has a sliding bearing at its end f upon the jack E. In this case both springs f f are arranged vertically be tween the rest-support 13 and the repetitionlcver O.

In the example of the invention shown in Fig. 4 the springs ff are arranged between the repetition-lever O and the rest-support 13*, as shown in Fig. 3, but they are both formed of asingle piece of wire, the wire being coiled around two pins, 71, in the post 0. Their being made of a single piece of wire, however, does not prevent their being separately bent or adjusted to vary either of them without affooting the force of the other, and they therefore in practical effect constitute two indc pendently-adjusl'able springs, although they may be made of a single piece of wire. Provision for their adjustment may be secured by having the wire coiled separately around the two pins h. In this example of the invention the springfhas a sliding bearing atf on the repetition-lever, while the spring f is connected by a loop or stirrup, f", with thejack, as in Fig. 1.

Referring to all the examples of our inven tion, it will be seen that between the rearward end of the repetition-lever O and the restsupport 13* we have arranged the usual regulatingscrew, (7, and ordinarily this screw is solely relied on for varying the relation of the repetition-lever and jack. We, however, prefer to employ in addition to the regulating-screw (l a regulating-screw d, which is inserted in the jack E, and which bears upon the abutment (1 here shown as rising from the rest-support B. This arrangementof regulating-screwand abutment is the same in the several examples of our invention shown.

Vhat we claim as our invention, and de' sire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with the repetitionlever O, pivoted between its ends and the jack E of a piano-action, of independentlyadjustable springs ff, applied to said lever and jack, substantially as herein described.

2. The combination, with the repetition lever G, pivoted between its ends and a jack, E, of a piano-action, of independently-adjustable springs f f, connected by loops or stirrnps at their ends with said lever and jack, the springf being connected with the lever in front of its pivot, substantially as herein described.

8. The combination, with the repetitionlever and jack of a piano-action, the lever being yoked or having an opening from top to bottom, of independently-adjustable springs for acting upon thelever and jack, the spring f, for the lever, being curved upward and forward through the yoke or opening in the lever and connected at its end by a loop or stirrup with the top of the lever, substantially as herein described.

4. The combination, with the repetitionlever, thejack, and the rest-support O E B", of the regulating-screw d, inserted in the jack and an abutment for the screw, substantially as herein described.

OTTO XVESSELL. ADAM NICKEL. RUDOLPH GROSS.

Witnesses:

Fnnnn. HAYNES, HENRY J. MoBnIDE. 

